


for a few moments more

by halfway_there_halfway_dead



Category: Community (TV)
Genre: Angst, Canon Divergence, Crack Treated Seriously, F/M, Kinda?, M/M, Paintball, i asked myself what's s2e24 missing?, the answer i came up with was this
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-10
Updated: 2020-04-10
Packaged: 2021-03-01 20:22:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,341
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23583040
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/halfway_there_halfway_dead/pseuds/halfway_there_halfway_dead
Summary: Troy's awesome leadership is never in doubt.Except maybe when two of the closest people he's ever had is in danger.//His eyes linger on Abed and Annie, his stomach doing somersaults at the implication that their deaths could be his fault. He quells the thought and turns towards the doors. “Commence operation.”
Relationships: Troy Barnes/Annie Edison/Abed Nadir
Comments: 3
Kudos: 92





	for a few moments more

Troy paces, hand rubbing the back of his neck. He looks through the paint covered windows, tries to suppress the rising panic as he realizes that they’re surrounded, outnumbered and outgunned. He steps away from the glass and turns the situation over in his head, trying to find a loophole, but he can’t find any possibility that doesn’t end up in casualties. He looks over to his teammates, free of paint but fatigued and hanging on by a thread. They’re trapped and they haven’t even completed the mission they were meant to do. The panic he’s been suppressing leaks through, heart hammering against his ribcage. Maybe Jeff was right. Maybe he wasn’t cut out to lead. 

A hand, Abed's, lands on his shoulder, snapping him out of his reverie. Annie is watching him with concerned eyes. 

“I think our only choice is to shoot our way out,” he tells him. Abed is right, of course. Charging through is the only way they can finish this, whether it’s the smartest thing to do or not. Troy swallows, forcing himself to calm down. He nods. 

“Right,” he calls out. His team looks up at him and he tries not to let the fear show. His eyes linger on Abed and Annie, his stomach doing somersaults at the implication that their deaths could be his fault. He quells the thought and turns towards the doors. “Commence operation.” 

He walks to the glass doors of the study room, removing the broom wedged between the handles. He pauses, breath quickening. If they die out there before fulfilling his plan, it’s over. Not only will that prove he has failed as a leader, but their very school could go under because of his lack of skill. Once he opens this door, his whole team could die. 

_Abed and Annie could die._

The very thought nearly causes him to freeze. But then a warm hand finds itself on his shoulder again, and there’s a light touch just below his elbow. Abed and Annie gaze at him, trusting and believing. He tightens the grip on his guns and exhales. With one final glance at his team, he kicks the door open. 

Troy doesn’t look, just shoots and runs, ducking behind the upturned tables and shelves that litter their library. He knows some of his bullets hit but he doesn’t have time to celebrate. A bullet barely misses him when he sees Star-Burns go down. He hears Garret’s cries from inside of the study room as enemies gun him down. Troy grits his teeth. As long as even one of them survives, the plan can work. _As long as even one of them survives, the plan can work._ He repeats this to himself, over and over, ignoring the stinging in his eyes.

“We’ve got the last few trapped inside the library,” an enemy relays through their communicator. “They’re pinned down.” 

As far as he could see, only he and two of his teammates are left. Abed and Annie are pressed up against him, taking cover behind the capsized paint covered bookshelves. 

“Where’s Shirley?” he asks.

“I didn’t see her get hit,” Annie recounts and he can only hope that meant she’d gotten away somehow.

Troy peeks his head over and is met with a flurry of bullets. He ducks, the paint bursting against the shelf, harmless. Beside him, Annie jumps as the pellets strike the wood with a loud crack. Abed leans over her and asks him, “What did you see?” 

To anyone, the movement may have been insignificant. But Troy sees the way Annie relaxes just a fraction when Abed shifts close to her, spots a glint of protectiveness in Abed's usually blank eyes. The display rouses feelings he can’t quite put a name to, reminds him of thoughts he’d had before the war, notions of the three of them which he’d promptly stifled, afraid it could sever their friendship with him forever. Abed catches him staring and he tears his gaze away. 

“Two behind the librarian’s desk,” he finally answers, “three behind the overturned tables by the study room but there are more on their way and-”

“And they’ve trapped us in a dead end,” Annie finishes. He nods, clutch so tight on his guns, the plastic digs into his palms. So this was it. They were going to die here. And it was all his fault. His eyes start to sting again.

“Hey kid,” he hears Abed say. He faces him. Abed reaches for his wrist and his hold is gentle yet firm. Annie places her hand right above Abed's and their heat seeps into his skin. He looks up at them, throat drying as he meets their gazes. For a second, the world falls away. The sounds around him fade and his thoughts quiet. It’s only the three of them, huddled together and connected. The fears and anxieties he carried ebb away as the feel of them occupies his senses, fills his mind and warms him to the core. For a moment, he doesn’t have to imagine how the three of them could be together because, for one perfect moment, they already are. 

A bullet whizzes past his ear and reality comes crashing down around him. The moment dissipates and they’re just three kids, cornered and helpless as the enemy closes in. He pops his head over their barricade again, observing that their enemies have now doubled. He ducks back down, head leaning against the wooden shelf as his mind tries furiously to figure a way out of their predicament. Suddenly, Troy comes to a realization. 

He straightens, causing them to let go of his arm. He shifts to his knee and rechecks his ammo. Annie is watching him in confusion, but Abed only needs a couple of seconds before his eyes widen in understanding. He shakes his head, grabbing onto Troy’s wrist again. This time the hold is anything but gentle. Troy only shoots them a grin. As long as even one of them survives, the plan can work. But right now, he doesn’t care about the plan.

“You’ll make it out of here alive,” he promises them. 

“No.” 

It’s Annie. She’s grabbed a hold of him too, onto his worn tanktop, eyes wet. She’s trying to look resolute but she can’t quite make it. They know too well the chances of all of them making it out of this is slim to none. But if one person were to lure them away…

Tears slip down Annie's cheeks and he bends forward to place a kiss on her forehead, blinking away his own tears. He looks over to Abed. The man still looks skeptical, even scared, but he allows Troy to gently pull his hand away. Troy offers his own hand and they complete their handshake. It’s then that he notices that Abed's eyes are wet too. But he can’t falter now. He has to get them out of here. He will. 

“Take care of each other,” he says, glad that his voice remained steady. 

He doesn’t wait for a response. He jumps over the overturned bookshelf and shoots. He doesn’t think, just aims and fires and runs. They give chase. He doesn’t know how many there are, only hopes that he’s lured enough of them away for Abed and Annie to make their escape. He finds shelter behind a table and stays just long enough to catch his breath. He fires one of his guns but it comes up empty. He hurls it at the enemy closest to him and starts running again. He know he’s running out of bullets, but even without a weapon, he’ll run for as long as he can.

Before long, he rounds a corner, firing behind him as he goes when he comes to an abrupt stop. In front of him, ten enemy soldiers are waiting, their weapons pointed at his chest. His heart stutters to a stop and a sense of deja vu overtakes him. 

“I had a dream it would end this way,” Troy whispers. 

They fire. 

  
  
  



End file.
